I had the opportunity to see the good doctor in action today at a photo op at the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, where she was greeted by Alice Waters, a gaggle of excited kids, and the garden’s resident chickens.

What impressed me about Vice Admiral Benjamin was how much she wanted to interact with the kids, taking time to talk with them in the garden’s hay bale ramada and in the kitchen, where she was interviewed by two junior journalists for the student newspaper.

As the country’s chief health educator, Dr. Benjamin has made preventing obesity, an epidemic in America, a cornerstone of her vision for a healthier nation. She brings to the job professional and personal experience. She founded a health clinic in Bayou La Batre, a rural Alabama shrimping community, ministering to the health needs of the poor. Talk about a commitment to community service and public health: Her clinic was wiped out by Hurricane Georges in 1998 and Katrina in 2005. Undeterred, the center was rebuilt in short order.

The day before the newly rebuilt clinic was about to open in 2006, it was burned down in a fire. Dr. Benjamin rebuilt again, each time mortgaging her home and picking up shifts in emergency rooms and nursing homes to earn extra money to keep the clinic running, according to a recent Los Angeles Times profile.

She lost her only sibling to AIDS. Her mother died of lung cancer and her father from complications from diabetes and high blood pressure. All preventable diseases, notes the MacArthur award winner. She garnered some criticism during the nomination process for her current job because of her weight. She told theNew York Times Magazine: “My thought is that people should be healthy and be fit at whatever size they are.”

Dr. Benjamin spoke at UC Berkeley before being shepherded to the Edible Schoolyard by Dr. Pamela Peeke, the chief medical correspondent for Discovery Health TV. She was welcomed by the mayor, school officials, and food advocate Joy Moore who quipped, “They invited me so you’d feel comfortable,” a reference to the fact that she was the only other brown-skinned adult in the assembled crowd.

The M.D. told King Middle School 8th graders Emily Wert and Maya Wong that she was excited to come to Edible to see the school’s acclaimed cooking and gardening program in action because creating healthy school environments is a key point outlined in her plan for a healthy nation.

So great to see the Edible Schoolyard get so much exposure and continue to raise the profile of the healthy school food issue. Also nice to see our nation’s medical leader make obesity, diabetes and healthy eating a national priority.

I love her comment about being healthy and fit at whatever size they are. No reason to assume that people are couch potatoes and never move just because they aren’t a size 10 or that they are healthy and active at size 4. Those assumptions are often wrong.Melanie @ Frugal Kiwi´s last [type] ..Sterling Earrings Giveaway by Silverworks

So exciting to see her visiting a viable project that is using concrete methods to make kids healthier (in the meantime at my son’s school the DOCTOR mom of one of his classmates brought in a “snack” that was laden with corn syrup, sugar, and dye. And we wonder why hyperactivity and diabetes are on the rise?!)

Very cool, and hopefully, her visit will bring some attention to a great program and inspire other schools and communities to follow suit.Jane Boursaw´s last [type] ..Twelve Cool St Patrick’s Day Movies

I’m encouraged, Jane, by just how much interest there is in cooking, gardening, and food-focused curriculum at many schools around the country. The Edible Schoolyard is just one example, albeit a very visible and high-profile one, of how that can look.

Wonderful – I love the focus on the process of growing and sustainability, and am really glad to see officials taking the time to view the progress first hand. I think these “micro” visits can have “macro” effects.

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Thank you for stopping by Lettuce Eat Kale, the blog of food writer Sarah Henry. Here you'll find posts on school food, urban eats, people with edible interests, and more. Please take a look around and feel free to comment, or click to find out more about Sarah Henry. Visit her writing website to see her print stories.